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SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6:24-33
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VERSES 24-34: OVERVIEW
The Thanksgiving lection omits verses 24, 34. I have included them in this exegesis, because I consider them to be an important part of this passage.
VERSE 24: NO ONE CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS
24"No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth (Greek: mamona –– property).
"No one can serve two masters." Jesus does not state this as a warning, but as a fact.
"for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other." "Love and hate do not refer to emotions, but represent the biblical idiom for 'choose'/'not choose' (see 5:43). The point is that undivided service can be given to one master only; if there is more than one, every choice means a favoring of one and rejection of the other" (Boring, 210).
"You cannot serve God and wealth" (Greek: mamona –– property). The NRSV translates mamona as "wealth," but the KJV transliterates it (brings it into the English language as a new word) –– Mammon –– a word that, when capitalized, sounds like the name of a pagan god. The KJV approach has much to commend it.
There is no prohibition in this verse against possessing wealth, but a few verses earlier Jesus counseled, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth" (6:21).
The problem is less in having mammon than in serving it –– giving it our heart.
VERSE 25: DO NOT WORRY ABOUT YOUR LIFE
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry (Greek: merimnate –– be anxious) about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
"do not worry" (Greek: merimnesete –– be anxious –– be apprehensive about possible danger or misfortune). Jesus is not commending recklessness, but calls us not to be distracted by worry. Worry disables; faith enables.
"Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?" Jesus does not counsel us to be flippant about possessions –– to be careless stewards. As his disciples, we assume a responsibility to help the hungry and the homeless (Matthew 25:31-46).
"The greatest danger to Western Christianity is not, as is sometimes alleged, prevailing ideologies such as Marxism, Islam, the New Age movement or humanism, but rather the all-pervasive materialism of our affluent culture" (Craig Blomberg, quoted in Keener, 151).
VERSES 26-30: LOOK AT THE BIRDS OF THE AIR
26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And can any of you by worrying add a single hour (Greek: pechun –– cubit) to your span of life? 28And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies (Greek: krina –– wildflowers) of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you––you of little faith?
"Look at the birds of the air." Jesus first tells us not to be anxious, and then provides the rationale. God, who gave us life, will provide for our needs.
It is true that birds "neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns" (v. 26), but they build nests, forage for food, and care for their young. We have an obligation to do the same: to work –– to produce –– to avoid idleness and dependency (2 Thessalonians 3:6-13).
"And yet your heavenly Father feeds them" (v. 26). "Jesus does not say that 'their' heavenly Father feeds (the birds), but 'your' heavenly Father; the very Father in whom the anxious have ceased to trust provides even for improvident birds" (Morris, 158).
"And can any of you by worrying add a single hour (Greek: pechun –– cubit) to your span of life?" (v. 27). A cubit is a measure of distance rather than time –– the distance from fingertip to elbow –– roughly a foot and a half (half a meter).
"Consider the lilies (Greek: krina) of the field…. Even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these" (vv. 28-29). Jesus uses Solomon's glory to illustrate lavish, sumptuous dress. God created krina to be even more lavish and sumptuous than even Solomon's Sunday best.
"But if God so clothes the grass of the field, …will he not much more clothe you –– you of little faith" (v. 30). The call here is not to forego beauty in clothing (or anything else), but to forego anxiety about clothing (or anything else). It is good to enjoy God's beautiful gifts, but it is not good to worry about them. Again Jesus argues from the lesser to the greater. If God takes care of wildflowers and grass, won't he also take care of his children.
VERSES 31-33: STRIVE FIRST FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD
31Therefore do not worry (Greek: merimnesete –– be anxious), saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' 32For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
"Therefore do not worry" (merimnesete –– be anxious) (v. 31). The KJV says, "Therefore take no thought," which sounds as if Jesus is prohibiting planning, but that is not the case. The subject here is worry –– anxiety.
"indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things" (v. 32). Jesus does not say that food and clothing are unimportant but, to the contrary, reminds us that the Father –– the one who created us to be human –– knows full well our need for food, clothing, and "all these things."
"For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things" (v. 32). "Gentiles" in this verse means "pagans" –– people outside the community of faith.
"But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness" (v. 33). The star toward which the Christian is to navigate is God.
"strive first for the kingdom of God" does not mean first in sequence but first in priority. It isn't that we are to strive for the kingdom of God for awhile so that we may then be free to strive for other things, but that we should keep the kingdom in the forefront of our concerns always.
VERSE 34: SO DO NOT WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW
34"So do not worry (Greek: merimnesete –– be anxious) about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble (Greek: kakia) is enough for today."
"So do not worry about tomorrow." As noted above, this is intended to prohibit, not planning or preparation, but anxiety. While planning and preparing, we can be sure that God is for us, so we have no need to be anxious (Romans 8:31). In life and death, we belong to God and, in life and death, God will provide for our needs.
"Today's trouble (kakia –– evil, bad things, difficulties, troubles, hardships) is enough for today." This is a call to live in the present. While it might be important to know our history so that we can learn from it –– and to plan for the future so that we are not simply adrift on the sea of life –– we can be sure that the Father who provided for us yesterday will also provide for us tomorrow.
–– Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. All rights reserved. Used by permission
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Boring, M. Eugene, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. VIII (Nashville: Abingdon, 1995)
Bruner, Frederick Dale, Matthew: Volume 2, The Churchbook, Matthew 13-28 (Dallas: Word, 1990)
Craddock, Fred B.; Hayes, John H.; Holladay, Carl R.; Tucker, Gene M., Preaching Through the Christian Year, A (Valley Forge: Trinity Press International, 1992)
Gardner, Richard B, Believer's Church Bible Commentary (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1990)
Hagner, Donald A., Word Biblical Commentary: Matthew 1-13 (Dallas: Word Books, 1993)
Hare, Douglas R. A., Interpretation: Matthew (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1993)
Johnson, Sherman E. and Buttrick, George A., The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 7 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1951)
Senior, Donald, Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: Matthew (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998)
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